Furlan Records Personal Best at World Juniors

Bydgoszcz, Poland ? Nebraska cross country and track and field incoming freshman Jessica Furlan finished ninth in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 12th Annual World Junior Championships on Thursday, July 10, in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Furlan snagged the final spot in the finals on Tuesday, July 8, when she finished 12th with a time of 10:23.88. The Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, native shaved over seven seconds off her preliminary time to finish with a new personal-best time of 10:16.32 in the finals. 

 

Furlan was a four-time Saskatchewan Provincial champion in track and field at Dr. Martin Leboldus High School under Coach Larry Longmore. In 2005 as a freshman, competing in the midget division, she won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.58, while placing second in the 1,500 meters and third in the 3,000. In 2006 she returned to compete in the junior division and swept the previously mentioned events.  In her junior year she finished second in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters in the senior division. As a senior she finished runner up in the senior division the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:40.50.

 

She has competed nationally at the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships, IAAF World Youth Track and Field Championships, IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships, Canadian Junior Cross Country Championships and now the World Junior Track and Field Championships. She was the Canadian Junior 3,000-meter steeplechase champion in 2006 with a time of 10:43.27 and the runner up in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 2007 with a time of 6:39.36.

Unlike the Olympic Games, the World Junior Championships are competed every two years with the first championship held in Athens, Greece, at Olympic Stadium in 1986. The championships have never been held on U.S. soil and are scheduled to be in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada in 2010.